


Twin Hearts

by MachineryField



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Gen, No Dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24435589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MachineryField/pseuds/MachineryField
Summary: Vanea and Egil through the years.
Relationships: Egil & Vanea (Xenoblade Chronicles)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	Twin Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY XENOBLADE DAY!

Vanea was younger than Egil by only a few hours, built from the same set of parts he was built of. Parts of their father, Miqol, and spare pieces he’d gathered from other Machina. The children of all, he had said with a laugh when she opened her eyes (though she didn’t fully understand what he meant at the time).

It started to click into place, slowly but surely. The way the other Machina would pat their pods, and ask how they were growing. They treated them as if they were their children, and she supposed in a loose sense they were.

Miqol had borrowed parts from every Machina available to build children -- a recently never done experiment with life.

Most Machina were built with the parts of two Machina -- two who fell in love and decided to use their old parts to create new life. Miqol, however, never did find a love interest despite his want for children.

He told Vanea when she was around one thousand or so that he had finally decided he  _ would  _ have children, be it by himself or not. Of course, he was larger than most Machina, due to rare mutations in his growth he claimed, so he had plenty of parts for a child on his own…

But he gathered from others, and soon enough had enough to make two children. And Miqol, with a chuckle, told Vanea he couldn’t resist the idea of twins. 

Vanea was glad Miqol made them twins, she couldn’t imagine life without Egil. They were plenty different, but Vanea felt they completed each other. Two children, the pride and joy of their father.

She liked it that way, even if Egil was a bit of a loner type. She supposed that fit her brother just fine. It might even be odd if she saw Egil poking around others, actually. He was kind, but he preferred his solitude.

Though he always made an exception for her. When Vanea wanted to spend time with him, he would always allow her to. Even when he huffed a bit, she could notice a smile (as well as she could when they were both in pods, that is). Small, nearly missable, but still there.

The time they spent together was nice. Vanea enjoyed it, even if she kept that enjoyment to herself. Egil was kind, but she  _ was  _ his younger sister… And she didn’t want to give him ammunition to poke fun at her.

So she would just ask him quietly, say she was feeling lonely. And he would say they could spend time together, and they would… They would, and Vanea felt they would be like that forever, even as they grew.

Looking back, she wished she had known what was coming.

\--

Egil was one thousand four hundred twenty-five when he outgrew his pod. Miqol had let out a hearty laugh, telling Egil he had expected that. The pieces used for him had all been from quite large Machina, so it wasn’t a shock he grew a bit faster than most children.

And that growth continued, within the next few years he grew surprisingly quick. One of the tallest around, Miqol would always chortle, patting him on the back.

Of course, Egil didn’t really care about that. Height meant nothing to him… He preferred focusing on his studies to any of the awe his body may bring him. There was so much to learn, he could focus on chatting after he learned a bit more.

But Vanea, still in her pod, sometimes had other plans. She would still come to him, ask him to spend time with her… More often than before, and Egil had to wonder if she was afraid they would grow distant because he matured a bit faster physically.

As far as Egil was concerned, that would never happen, but… He supposed he could soothe some of her fears. He enjoyed spending time with her, anyway.

Sometimes, she would ask him to read to her. He doubted the books he read would be of much interest, but he would oblige. She would listen intently as he read off the biology textbooks and political novels. It didn’t seem to matter to her what he was reading, so long as it was his voice reading it.

Besides, she was bright. Maybe it was itching some sort of scratch she had. Miqol always did say he expected her to be a genius engineer once her body caught up with her mind, after all… And Egil couldn’t agree more.

\--

Vanea was one thousand five hundred one years old when she left her pod. A year later than the average child, but that meant nearly nothing to Machina, given their long lifespans. But for Vanea, every year counted.

She didn’t want a gap to grow between her and Egil. He had already spent seventy-six years out of his pod, after all. It wouldn’t be shocking if there wasn’t a bit of a gap, even if they were twins.

It wasn’t hard to see Egil had taken a shine to mechanics. He was bright, he had ideas, and he liked to be alone… The perfect kind of job for a man like him, creating and building away in his own little workspace.

Vanea had started going in there less and less, wanting to give him space. Feeling like she took up too much of his time while stuck in that pod… It had gotten to the point where she only really saw him when they worshipped Meyneth or it was late in the night (and even then, he would scold her and tell her to sleep sooner, for her body couldn’t grow without rest).

But now, she could walk around and give him more girth, even as her body quickly shot into full maturity. She liked watching him work, often getting her own ideas of what to try and add onto what he was doing.

When she told her brother, he would smile at her, and encourage her to attempt it. He seemed so proud of her ideas, of her own genius… And it was nice, knowing they could bond over this.

And when she created things, the entirety of the Machina would praise her like they praised Egil. So many little things that helped their civilization, they would say. How unique, they would coo.

And Vanea always felt wonderful, hearing that. She wasn’t lagging behind, she was brilliant, just as her father and brother said she was. 

Her own doubt in herself, always there, just a bit… Was always stomped out, just a bit, by the praise. She was worth something, and she could support others with her mind. And that… well, that was enough for Vanea.

\--

Egil was one thousand seven hundred twenty-three when he met Arglas, and he was two years older when the Mechonis was attacked. When Arglas was possessed by the monster known as Zanza, and when Lady Meyneth had no choice but to defend her people.

When she left them with but a warning that Zanza would awaken again, Egil felt as if he froze in time. Zanza would attack them again, and the other Machina simply wanted to flee. They wanted to find somewhere else to live, hide in fear of him.

It filled him with emotions he could not place, as he pleaded with them to not leave. They could fight back! They could stop Zanza’s tyranny before he awoke again!

But he was young, and never very good at sharing his emotions. So the Machina looked at him in horror and refused. They didn’t understand, or didn’t want to. No matter how much he pleaded, they didn’t listen.

They just tried to stop him.

The blood of his own brethren on his hands, in order to take revenge for the ones screaming in his ears. Something he did not wish for, but something he would accept. If it was so he could defeat Zanza… he would do anything.

Even if he was alone, he would continue forward. Even if Vanea pleaded with him to stop as she cooperated, he would not listen. He had to continue, no matter the cost. No matter how much support he lost.

\--

Vanea stayed by Egil’s side for a number of reasons. To help Lady Meyneth, to keep an eye on Egil, and… to try and save him from himself.

She would plead with him, beg him. But he would never listen, would push away her worries. Insisting what he was doing was right, even as Vanea cried out to him.

She felt as if that gap she had feared would appear had… and in that gap had been built a wall. A wall that, no matter how hard she beat against it, how much she screamed at him to break it down, it would not budge.

The wall was never going to break, no matter how hard she tried. But…

She never did stop trying. She would slam against it with all her might, no matter how hopeless it was. No matter how much he rejected her and her words, she would not stop. Not until her breathing ceased, or (Lady Meyneth forbid) his did.

He was her brother, her twin, another piece of her. And she would never give up on him.


End file.
